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Tiger Loses but Wins Big

ORLANDO, Fla. ' Nobody threw anyones ball into the lake on Tuesday. Nobody wrestled on the 18th green. The yucks were minimal, laughs were stifled; the smiles not nearly as present.

It was a little more business-like at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club on Day 2 of the Tavistock Cup. Thats what happens when $500,000 is up for grabs ' for just one person.

As much as it might seem like a typo, that is not a misprint: there are indeed five zeros behind the No. 5.

The tournament itself was pretty much over after Day 1. The home team blanked the visiting Isleworth Country Club squad, 10-0, to give them a commanding advantage.

The lead proved to be insurmountable as Lake Nona claimed their first Cup in four tries, 22-8.

With the overall result never in doubt, the main point of interest was to see who would win the 500K race and the Payne Stewart Salver award.

Every single one of these guys may be millionaires ' some much more so than others ' but its absolutely, physiologically impossible for anyone, no matter how rich they might be, not to care about winning a half-million dollars.

When on-course reporter David Feherty asked Tiger Woods during his round if $500,000 still meant something to him, Tiger got tongue-tied. He chuckled and ultimately said that he was just trying to win some points. But you know that he cared about winning points as much as I care about who is Anna Nicole Smiths babys daddy.

For all of the extravagant prizes on offer in this exclusive and lucrative and very charitable event ' Cadillac Escalades, Air Nautique boats, Cartier Jewelry, Panasonic Home Theaters ' there is nothing like winning cold, hard cash.

With so much on offer, Tuesdays action felt more like the final round of a tightly contested PGA TOUR event than that of a runaway hit-and-giggle fest. And why not: the low scorer in this made-for-TV event was going to get 200 grand more than the champion of this weeks Kraft Nabisco, an LPGA Tour major.

Lake Nonas Justin Rose got the first big jump out of the blocks. Playing in the third of the five groups out, he birdied the par-4 first and then jarred his third shot from the fairway for eagle on the par-5 second. Two more birdies and one more eagle later and he had a tidy little 7-under 29, good enough for a two-stroke advantage over Graeme McDowell.

Did we mention that this had the feeling of a final round TOUR event?

Rose has led six times on TOUR after 36 holes and three times after 54 holes, but never after 72.

And he couldnt close this one out either.

Rose could only muster a 1-over 37 on the back side, leaving him alone in second place. Well, not totally alone. He did get $300,000 to keep him company.

Three-hundred grand for playing 18 holes and not winning ' get your kids to David Leadbetter immediately.

Individual honors actually came down to McDowell and Woods.

Now we all know that Tiger needs $500,000 like we need a paper cut; but that matters little to him. Tiger loves to win. He loves making money almost as much.

He caught the scent of cash around the turn, birdying seven consecutive holes starting at the par-4 eighth. By the time he rolled in a 3-footer at the short par-4 14th, he was one up on the Irishman.

I think that weve already mentioned that this had the feel of a final round TOUR event. And what usually happens when Tiger leads down the stretch of a TOUR event? He makes pars, others make bogeys, and he wins comfortably.

Woods parred his final four holes for an 8-under 64 and 500 large. McDowell finished bogey-bogey to share third place.

It was, by the way, the third time in three tries that Tiger has claimed medalist honors in this event. In the trophy presentation, there was actually no physical trophy to present to Tiger.

He just threw up his hands and smiled. We'll assume that he won't be that forgiving if a check doesn't come his way.

And so, Tiger wins as an individual, but loses as a team member. Theres symbolism in there somewhere.

Tiger's checklist: How he can contend at Augusta

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Augusta is already on the minds of most players here at the Honda Classic, and that includes the only one in the field with four green jackets.

Yes, Tiger Woods has been talking about the Masters ever since he started this latest comeback at Torrey Pines. These three months are all about trying to build momentum for the year’s first major.

Woods hasn’t revealed his schedule past this week, but his options are limited. He’s a good bet to play at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he has won eight times, but adding another start would be a departure from the norm. He’s not eligible for the two World Golf Championship events, in Mexico and Austin, and he has never played the Valspar Championship or the Houston Open.

So there’s a greater sense of urgency this week at PGA National, which is realistically one of his final tune-ups.

How will Woods know if he’s ready to contend at Augusta? Here’s his pre-Masters checklist:

1. Stay healthy

So far, so good, as Woods tries to resume a normal playing schedule following four back surgeries since 2014. Though he vowed to learn from his past mistakes and not push himself, it was a promising sign that Woods felt strong enough to sign up for the Honda, the second of back-to-back starts on separate coasts.

Another reason for optimism on the health front: The soreness that Woods felt after his season opener at Torrey Pines wasn’t related to his surgically repaired back. No, what ached most were his feet – he wasn’t used to walking 72 holes on hilly terrain.

Woods is stiffer than normal, but that’s to be expected. His back is fused.

2. Figure out his driver

Augusta National is more forgiving off the tee than most major courses, putting more of a premium on approach shots and recoveries.

That’s good news for Woods, who has yet to find a reliable tee shot. Clearly, he is most comfortable playing a fade and wants to take the left side of the course out of play, but in competition he’s been plagued by a two-way miss.

In two starts this year, Woods has hit only 36 percent of the fairways, no matter if he was using driver, fairway wood or long iron.

Unfortunately, Woods is unlikely to gain any significant insight into his driver play this week. PGA National’s Champion Course isn’t overly long, but there is water on 15 of the 18 holes. As a result, he said he likely will hit driver only four times a round, maybe five, and otherwise rely on his 3-wood and 2-iron.

Said Rory McIlroy: “Being conservative off the tee is something that you have to do here to play well.”

That won’t be the case at Augusta.

3. Clean up his iron play

As wayward as Woods has been off the tee, his iron play hasn’t impressed, either.

At Riviera, he hit only 16 greens in regulation – his fewest in a Tour event as a professional. Of course, Woods’ chances of hitting the green are reduced when he’s playing from the thick rough, sand and trees, but he also misfired on six of the eight par 3s.

Even when Woods does find the green, he’s not close enough to the hole. Had he played enough rounds to qualify, his proximity to the hole (39 feet, 7 inches) would rank 161st on Tour.

That won’t be good enough at Augusta, where distance control and precision are paramount.

Perhaps that’s why Justin Thomas said last week what many of us were thinking: “I would say he’s a pretty good ways away.”

4. Get into contention somewhere

As much as he would have liked to pick off a win on the West Coast, Woods said that it’s not a prerequisite to have a chance at the Masters. He cited 2010, when he tied for fourth despite taking four months off after the fallout from his scandal.

In reality, though, there hasn’t been an out-of-nowhere Masters champion since Charl Schwartzel in 2011. Since then, every player who eventually donned the green jacket either already had a win that year or at least a top-3 finish worldwide.

“I would like to play well,” Woods said. “I would like to win golf tournaments leading into it. The years I’ve won there, I’ve played really well early.”

Indeed, he had at least one win in all of the years he went on to win the Masters (1997, 2000, ’01, ’05). Throw in the fact that Woods is nearly five years removed from his last Tour title, and it’s reasonable to believe that he at least needs to get himself into contention before he can seriously entertain winning another major.

And so that’s why he’s here at the Honda, trying to find his game with seven weeks to go.

Players winner to get 3-year exemption into PGA

Although The Players isn’t golf’s fifth major, it received a boost in that direction this week.

The PGA of America has adjusted its criteria for eligibility into the PGA Championship, extending an exemption for the winner of The Players to three years.

According to an official with the PGA of America, the association felt the winner of The Players deserved more than a single-year exemption, which had been the case, and the move is consistent with how the PGA Tour’s annual flagship event is treated by the other majors.

Winners of The Players were already exempt for three years into the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship.

Thomas: Playing in front of Tiger even more chaotic

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Justin Thomas may be going from the frying pan to the fire of Tiger Woods’ pairings.

Translation: He’s going from being grouped with Woods last week in the first two rounds at the Genesis Open to being grouped directly in front of Woods this week at the Honda Classic.

“Which might be even worse than playing with him,” Thomas said Wednesday.

Typically, the pairing in front of Woods deals with a lot of gallery movement, with fans racing ahead to get in position to see Woods’ next shot.

Thomas was quoted after two rounds with Tiger at Riviera saying fans “got a little out of hand,” and saying it’s disappointing some golf fans today think it’s “so amusing to yell and all that stuff while we’re trying to hit shots.”

With 200,000 fans expected this week at the Honda Classic, and with the Goslings Bear Trap pavilion setting a party mood at the 16th green and 17th tee, that portion of the course figures to be quite lively at PGA National.

“I touched on this a little bit last week,” Thomas said. “I think it got blown out of proportion, was just taken out of context, and worded differently than how I said it or meant it.

“I love the fans. The fans are what I hope to have a lot of, what all of us hope to have a lot of. We want them cheering us on. But it's those certain fans that are choosing to yell at the wrong times, or just saying stuff that's completely inappropriate.”

Thomas said it’s more than ill-timed shouts. It’s the nature of some things being said.

“It's one thing if it's just you and I talking, but when you're around kids, when you're around women, when you're around families, or just around people in general, some of the stuff they are saying to us is just extremely inappropriate,” he said. “There’s really no place for it anywhere, especially on a golf course.

“I feel like golf is pretty well known as a classy sport, not that other sports aren't, but it has that reputation.”

Thomas said the nature of the 17th hole at PGA National’s Champion Course makes it a more difficult tee shot than the raucous 16th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Typically, players like to hear fans get into the action before or after they hit shots. Ill-timed bluster, however, makes a shot like the one at Honda’s 17th even tougher.

“That hole is hard enough,” Thomas said. “I don't need someone yelling in my ear on my backswing that I'm going to hit it in the water, to make it any harder. I hope it gets better, just for the sake of the game. That's not helping anything. That's not helping grow the game.”

Those who follow golf know an ill-timed shout in a player’s backswing is different than anything a fan says at a football, basketball or baseball game. An ill-timed comment in a backswing has a greater effect on the outcome of a competition.

“Just in terms of how much money we're playing for, how many points we're playing for ... this is our jobs out here, and you hate to somehow see something that a fan does, or something that they yell, influence something that affects [a player’s] job,” Thomas said.

Rory: Phil said RC task force just copied Europe

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Playing the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am two weeks ago, Rory McIlroy quizzed Phil Mickelson about what the Americans got out of the U.S. Ryder Cup task force’s overhaul.

McIlroy and Mickelson were paired together at Pebble Beach.

“Basically, all they are doing is copying what the Europeans have done,” McIlroy said. “That's what he said.”

The Europeans claimed their sixth of seven Ryder Cups with their victory at Gleneagles in 2014. That brought about a sea change in the way the United States approached the Ryder Cup. Mickelson called out the tactics in Gleneagles of captain Tom Watson, who was outmaneuvered by European captain Paul McGinley.

The Americans defeated Europe at Hazeltine two years ago with that new European model.

“He said the first thing they did in that task force was Phil played a video, a 12-minute video of Paul McGinley to all of them,” McIlroy said. “So, they are copying what we do, and it's working for them. It's more cohesive, and the team and the core of that team are more in control of what they are doing, instead of the PGA of America recruiting and someone telling them what to do.”